Denver Nuggets / NBA

Ty Lawson's NBA all-star path becoming clear

On Thursday, the NBA all-star voting results after the third returns of fan balloting were made public, and Nuggets guard Ty Lawson was not part of the top-10 backcourt players in the West.

And yet his path to what would be his first All-Star Game isn't stocked with road blocks. In fact, it's starting to trend in the other direction.

Two of the top three guards — Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul — are injured and won't be back to figure into the all-star mix. Golden State's Stephen Curry is second. Jeremy Lin is fourth, but his Houston teammate — James Harden — is closing in on him. Then Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, who is injured and won't be available for the Feb. 16 All-Star Game, is next.

That leaves a chunk of players Lawson could catch before the balloting ends Jan. 20: San Antonio's Tony Parker, Portland's Damian Lillard, Golden State's Klay Thompson and Minnesota's Ricky Rubio. Lawson could make a good case to get picked ahead of all of them, except Lillard perhaps.

Lawson is in the midst of another hot stretch with four consecutive double-doubles entering Thursday night's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He's averaging 18 points and 12 assists in January.

"It's kind of like winning the last 20, 30 seconds of a round in boxing — that's what you remember," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. "So he can have a strong couple of weeks here before the all-star break and anything can happen."

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Gallo insurance correction. It was reported this week in The Denver Post that the Nuggets would get a break on injured forward Danilo Gallinari's per-game salary through insurance provided through the NBA. That insurance kicks in starting with Saturday's game against the Orlando Magic and saves the Nuggets 80 percent on his salary, not 50 percent as previously reported. It means the team will save about $99,000 each game he does not play. Gallinari is making more than $10 million this season. It's the second season in his four-year contract.

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